The Hindu : Sport : A golden fifty for host China

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Monday, Aug 25, 2008
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A golden fifty for host China

Kamesh Srinivasan

BEIJING: China achieved its target of topping the medals table at home, but surpassed all projections by landing 51 gold medals, to squarely beat the U.S. by a 15-gold margin.

It was a foregone conclusion that the host would top the table, but the question on the last day of the Beijing Games was whether China would touch the 50-gold mark that was last breached at Seoul in 1988.

With Zou Shiming and Zhang Xiaoping getting China’s first ever boxing gold medals, the target was comfortably met. It was an impressive progress by a country which won only a total of 63 medals in Athens.

Sharing responsibility

The Chinese men and women shared the responsibility equally in reaching the golden target, with the men accounting for 24 and the women, an impressive 27.

Quite interestingly, the U.S. managed to win a solitary medal in boxing — a bronze — while the boxing power-house Cuba failed to win any gold for the first time since 1968.

With 21 silver and 28 bronze medals, China also touched the magical 100 mark for the total. The U.S. had the consolation of winning the maximum number of medals, 110, with 36 gold, 38 silver and 36 bronze. In fact, the U.S. improved on its overall collection from 102 in the last edition.

On the gold front, the U.S. slipped everywhere including athletics in which it fetched seven gold medals as compared to eight in Athens and 14 in the last World Championships.

Consolation

The U.S., of course, can take solace from the fact that it managed to win the same number of gold medals as in the last edition in Athens, when it topped the table, four gold medals ahead of China.

The host has added 19 gold medals to its collection from the last time and has made it clear to the world that the magnificent legacy of the Beijing Games would be put to good use in continuing its domination in the London Games in 2012. China’s rich collection of 51 gold medals came in 17 disciplines. The bulk of the share was from artistic gymnastics (9), weightlifting (8), diving (7), shooting (5), table tennis (4), badminton (3) and judo (3). The Chinese found heroes and heroines from every quarter and every discipline.

Debatable

A debate is bound to ensue whether eight-gold winning American swimmer Michael Phelps was the ‘athlete of the Games’ or was it the sprint double winner from Jamaica, Usain Bolt, who set two individual world records and was part of the shorter relay team of his country which bettered another world record. Phelps now has 14 Olympic gold medals.

The U.S. won gold medals in 15 disciplines, and the lion’s share of 12 came from the pool. Apart from the seven athletics gold medals, the U.S. did not win more than two gold medals in any sport. The men won 20 gold and the women 15, while one medal came in a mixed event.

India’s distinction

India also earned the distinction of winning more than two medals from a single edition of the Games for the first time in history and its first ever individual gold, for a total of three. India finished 50th among the 87 countries which won at least one medal.

From two medals in 1952, India has indeed come a long way!

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